Running Messenger
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed and I'd grown up around a boy who liked to hide his true feeling behind a shield of mischief. It gave me the ability to look past an outer image and see what was really going on. I could see past James' shield of mischief, just as I could see past Black's façade of indifference. "He's staying at ours," I assured him, more gently this time.
1. Running Messenger

_FOURTH YEAR_

Were older brothers born simply for the purpose of annoying their little sisters? Or was that just the job of my brother who seemed adamant to continue treating me as a little kid? Merlin, I was a fourth year already but he still treated me like I was in my first year. But really, everyone in the entire castle knew _he_ was the one with the mentality of a first year.

Godric, the idiotic boy – because he was a boy, no matter how fiercely he protested that he was a man – had abducted me the moment I stepped out of the toilets. I knew I made a mistake by going on my own. But I had just stepped away from my friends for a few minutes to change into my uniform and by the time I emerged from the toilet, I was grabbed and manoeuvred swiftly into a carriage with his friends.

"Honestly James," I said with a sigh, glaring at my brother as he sat in the carriage with his friends. He grinned easily at me, reaching up to fix the glasses on his nose. "Just _why_ have you decided to abduct me?"

"You're currently acting as our alibi," Remus explained, with a sheepish smile.

"You've caused trouble on the train again?" I asked unnecessarily even as I struggled to hide a smile. "Shame on you, Remus Lupin, you're a prefect."

Colour rushed up his neck as he ducked his head, "Well –"

"So just what alibi am I supposed to be supplying you with?" I raised an eyebrow.

"We were with you the entire time," Peter suggested, "or something equivalent. We just need to be busy during the time of the crime."

"And do I want to know _what_ the crime was?" Crossing my arms, I pinned my stare onto my brother who had suddenly become tight-lipped.

Honestly, where was this refusal to spill the details when he thought it funny to stand on the Gryffindor table in my second year, to announce to the entire hall that I had a crush on a certain Hufflepuff. And if that certain Hufflepuff so much as even looked my way, James was planning on landing him in the hospital wing. I had been _mortified_.

"Trust me, love," Sirius said as he rose to his feet, and came to my side, "you don't want to know. But we listened to your rules and no harm's been done to third years and below, none of your friends were targeted and," he leaned in close to my ear, "I've snuck some treats into your trunk but don't let James know. The git gets jealous."

"See," I said, linking my arm through Sirius' with a grin as I sent James a pointed look. "This is my favourite brother."

I was so focused on James' pout that I almost didn't notice the look of relief that crossed Sirius' face. Merlin, how many times did I have to tell him that I had no issue with him staying with us, until the man got it? Just as I went to comment on it, the door to the carriage was thrown open and it would have hit me in the process had Sirius not had the foresight to pull me out of the way.

"James Potter!" Lily shrieked from the doorway where she stood covered in … purple feathers? "What the hell do you think you're playing at?"

And really, I wanted to know the answer to that question. Just who told James that _this_ was the way to get the girl he so desperately wanted? Whoever it was had caused an unnecessary amount of stress to most of Gryffindor tower and was probably the reason that my brother sometimes acted more immature than the first years.

"I don't know what you mean Evans," James denied, rising to his feet with his hand tucked into his pockets. He was trying his best to show his innocence but the smirk curling at the corner of his lips spoke volumes. "I've been here the whole time, isn't that right sister dearest?"

Lily looked to me and raised an eyebrow.

"He's been annoying me since the moment I stepped foot into this carriage," I answered truthfully, watching her shoulders sink a little.

"I'm still sure you did it!" she hissed, turning to leave the carriage and James should have let her go in peace. But he didn't.

Instead, he called out, "Want my help to get out of those dirty clothes Evans?"

She whirled around to face him, lasers firing out of those green eyes as she stalked towards him. James' eyes fixated on the approaching witch and the excitement in them grew. My brother was sometimes _too_ frank around me; once, during a drunk stupor – whilst he'd been underage at that, he'd confessed that these arguments riled him up in a way nothing else did. And Godric, it still made me shiver in revulsion just thinking about it.

Sirius nudged me with his elbow, whispering, "I'd leave now if I were you – or else you'll be stuck in here for much longer. I'll watch your back."

"Thanks," I said, hurrying towards the door but before I could duck out of the carriage, I turned to him. "I really _do_ think of you as my preferred brother Sirius. When you're not being an asshole, that is."

I heard him chuckle behind me and went on my way back to my carriage. That had been the plan. But I only made it two carriages down when I was pulled into another compartment, a hand clasped over my mouth. The only people that would do this to me were in the carriage I'd just left –

My hand went to my pocket in an instant as I retrieved my wand, jabbing it directly into the body of the person standing in front of me. Underage use magic be damned. Surely this was a good enough reason – an excusable reason. My eyes flickered upwards to look at the face of my abductor and my eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Black?" I mumbled against his hand, refusing to drop my wand even if I knew who was holding me captive.

"Don't scream," he ordered firmly. "I'm going to remove my hand so don't scream."

And I didn't. He removed his hand from over my mouth, drawing completely away from me. Looking to the wand I still had drawn at him, he raised an eyebrow and I narrowed my eyes at him. There was no way I was leaving myself unarmed around a Slytherin who I knew was capable of causing damage, even without his wand.

"What do you want?" I demanded, growing tired of his silence.

"Sirius is staying at yours," he stated, although it sounded like a question.

Narrowing my eyes, I asked suspiciously, "Why do you want to know that?"

"He left suddenly," Black bit out, not looking at me and I swore I could see the muscle in his jaw clench. "He didn't say anything about going anywhere. Or anything at all; he just picked up and left."

"Well are you surprised?" I spat out, incredulously. "Do you have any idea what _state_ he was in when he came to ours? I was surprised he was even breathing! What kind of parents do you have Black? Who does that to their son?"

"Not everyone was born a saint," he said quietly, and again his jaw clenched.

I frowned, asking hesitantly, "Are you worried about him?"

"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed and I'd grown up around a boy who liked to hide his true feeling behind a shield of mischief. It gave me the ability to look past an outer image and see what was really going on. I could see past James' shield of mischief, just as I could see past Black's façade of indifference.

"He's staying at ours," I assured him, more gently this time. "He's a Potter in all the ways that count."

"Good," he said gruffly, moving to brush past me. As he stepped out of the carriage, he added, "You better look after him then – if he's a Potter in all the ways that count."

* * *

Black's love for his older brother was something I had never thought to consider. The number of times I'd seen the pair of them face off in the corridor with wands drawn at their sides gave me the impression that they couldn't deal with one another. But it was the very opposite. It was one of Sirius' biggest causes of grief that he'd left Grimmauld Place on his own, unable to bring his brother with him. And Black, well for someone who claimed not to care about his brother he certainly spent a lot of time cornering me to check in on him.

Godric, he did it often. _Too_ often.

Whenever Black felt the need to check up on his brother, he'd find me to talk to him. But did he ever give me any form of notice about these meetings? No. Instead he abducted me as if it wasn't strange for him to drag a girl into whatever darkened corner of the castle he decided to make our meeting place for the day.

But lately, after I'd sent a stinging hex his way for dragging me into an empty classroom, he had started to speak to me through letters and notes. I'd made sure that none of my friends had seen the letters because otherwise they'd get the wrong impression about my relationship with Black and then James would find out and that was a mess I was _not_ prepared to face. It wasn't like I could tell them the truth either – Black would throw a hissy fit if he found out. So I was left with sneaking letters and notes to read in private which only made my friends more suspicious. There was really no winning in this situation.

I made my way back from Hogsmeade with my friends on either side of me. Angel was busy recounting her date to us, grinning widely as she told us everything. Godric, the girl just couldn't stop smiling, I thought as I nudged her teasingly.

Looking across the courtyard I frowned slightly at the sight of Black as he stood amongst a group of his friends. They talked between themselves and I would have believed him to have been a part of the conversation, if I hadn't seen his eyes drifting in search of something. He met my eyes, eyebrows rising and I frowned, realising he wanted to speak. He cast a cautious look towards his friends before he pointed backwards, towards the inside of the castle and I sighed, watching as he said goodbye to his friends before walking into the castle.

"What's the matter?" Lucy asked, referring to my sigh.

"I've forgotten something I need to do," I explained, already pulling myself away from them as I retreated into the castle with an apologetic smile. "I'll meet you guys back in the common room."

Before they could ask me where I was headed off to, I hurried out of earshot and wondered just where Black had disappeared off to. Each of these meetings with Black only further made me believe that Sirius' drama queen-ness was a result of his DNA. It would certainly explain why Black had the same trait.

Now just where had he disappeared off to?

A hand shot out from behind one of the suits of armour, making me reach for my wand instantly. I held it against Black's throat before realising I was safe and lowering it hesitantly to my side.

"You keep pointing that thing at me," he muttered, watching me with narrowed eyes.

"Then stop bloody pulling me into places," I hissed, crossing my arms and ducking behind the suit of armour at the sound of approaching voices.

We both remained silent, biding our time until the students passed us by. Once I was sure that they'd left, I looked back to the silent Slytherin.

"Well?" I asked quietly, "What is it now?"

He thrust a small brown paper bag towards me, one I hadn't noticed and gestured for me to take it. Slowly extending a hand towards it, I opened it curiously and found it filled with chocolates and sweets from Honeydukes. The only person that had such a sweet tooth was Remus and even then, I wasn't certain he'd be able to finish this. But he'd certainly make a good dent in it.

"Black?" I questioned, meeting his eyes.

"They're his favourites," Black grumbled, ignoring me when I looked to him in surprise. "There's no chance of giving him a present for his birthday this year. My parents can't find out so this'll have to do."

"I'll get them to him," I promised but he was already walking away from me.

He stopped, having heard my words. Turning to me with a small smile – one that surprised the fuck out of me – he nodded his head. "Thanks, Potter."

I watched him leave, realising that when he smiled like that I could understand why so many of the girls in our year went crazy over him. He wasn't handsome in the way Sirius was, but it was obvious in a few years he would be. He wasn't as loud and as brash as Sirius could be either, he was instead quiet and thought countless times before he said or did anything. I think I was beginning to prefer that.

* * *

 _FIFTH YEAR_

James, regardless of the fact that he'd been appointed head boy and had gotten the girl of his dreams, wasn't satisfied. No, he continued to bug me because he was _so_ certain that there was something I was hiding from him. He wasn't wrong – there was _many_ things I was keeping from my older brother, but there was no reason he needed to know that. So really, I wasn't surprised when I spied James standing outside my Charms classroom whilst he, I assumed, waited for me.

As the students filed out of the classrooms, I watched them all give my brother odd looks before continuing on their way. I made my way towards him, waving Lucy away as she headed off to her common room.

"Why are you loitering in the corridor?" I asked quietly, conscious of the listening ears around us.

"I can't just want to talk to my little sister?" he asked, raising a hand to cover his heart as if it ached.

"As if you don't have ulterior motives," I muttered knowingly, eyeing him closely. "Look, if you have the free time to be bugging me so much don't you think that you should be with Lily? Do you think that you can stop trying, now that you're dating? She might take the chance and run away Jamsie."

James scoffed, the picture of confidence until doubt began to creep in. His shoulders deflated a little as he asked quietly, "Why? Did she say something to you?"

I couldn't help but laugh, wondering what it was about Lily that had my brother so eager to please her. Whatever it was, she could keep the secret to herself. Since they had started dating, James' overprotectiveness had eased enough for me to go on dates without finding out that James had somehow threatened them. Of course he was still over protective – that was just who he was, but it hadn't been so bad. Up until a few weeks ago. Since then, he had returned to his usual state. No, he was worse even.

"So, what did you want?" I prompted, realising the corridor was now empty as everyone hurried back to their common rooms now that lessons were finished for the day. I went to do the same, with James dropping into step beside me.

"I don't want to say something that'll make things awkward," he began cautiously, making me look at him in surprise as he ran a hand through his already messy hair. Every year since I'd arrived at Hogwarts I always stuffed a hairbrush in his stocking at Christmas and yet, he never took the hint.

"Well why say it then?" I cut in before he could say another word. "If whatever you're going to say is going to make things awkward between us, I'd rather you kept it to yourself."

"I just – it need to be said." He let out a deep breath. "Just – Sirius isn't right for you. Not in that way."

His words had me looking at him incredulously. James couldn't bring himself to look at me, clearly feeling awkward enough for the both of us and I took a second to rethink his words. He wasn't implying what I thought? Surely not?

"James?" I questioned hesitantly, "Do you think I _like_ Sirius?"

He looked to me in surprise, sounding _far_ too hopeful as he asked, "Don't you?"

I shook my head, eyeing James like he'd grown a new head. "Godric no, he's like an overgrown child. You both are."

"But," James struggled to find his reasoning, trailing off into a mumble, "you've been catering to him so much lately, so I just thought –"

Rolling my eyes, I nudged him with my shoulder, "He's another brother of mine, James and Godric, I know we're purebloods and there's all that inbreeding going on, but incest is really _not_ my thing."

James let out a big relieved breath, finally able to smile freely now. "Good, because as much as I love Padfoot, I wasn't ready to accept him as a brother-in-law."

"Why not?" I couldn't help but tease. "He's already like a brother for you. It'd just be another way to make it official."

He looked like he was going to be sick and I could just see his mind whirring as he tried to decipher whether I meant it or not. I was having too much fun to ease his suffering. But he caught sight of my smirk and reached out to pull on my ponytail.

"Ow, James!"

"That's what you get for harassing your big brother!"

"Do I get to kick you in the balls then for all the times you've harassed me?"

"Potter?" Before our argument could get any worse, we stilled at the call of our surname, turning towards the voice.

Standing a little ahead of us was Regulus, school bag slung over his shoulder. He looked between the two of us, a little confused by the interaction he'd witnessed.

"Black," James greeted coolly. Whilst Slytherins still weren't James' favourite people, he had always treating Regulus a little differently. Simply because he was Sirius' brother. It didn't mean he liked him either, though.

"Regulus," I greeted and the boy in turn greeted me by my first name.

I didn't even have to look to James to know that his eyes had narrowed at the pair of us as he wondered just when we'd gotten so close. Before he could say something stupid, I elbowed him in the side.

"Have you been waiting long?" I asked, watching Regulus shake his head and his hair fell into his eyes.

Merlin, the urge to push the hair out of his eyes was growing again. Over the summer Regulus had grown out his hair and many of his fangirls had swooned at the sight of him. I had simply wanted him to clip his hair back. I'd even offered him one of my butterfly clips and had been rewarded with a rare smile.

"Not long," he assured me, looking to James who was now struggling not to burst into a tantrum.

"What the hell is going on?" he eventually asked, looking between the pair of us.

"We've got a project together," I explained, walking away from my brother to reach Regulus' side. "We were going to head to the library. I'll see you back at the common room later?"

Before James could go after the pair of us, I ushered Regulus away. Grabbing his robe sleeves, I pulled him away with a steady hand, casting glances back at James who was watching our retreating figures with suspicion.

"What was that about?" Regulus asked once we were away from my brother.

I rolled my eyes, "Pay no mind to that, it's a stupid older brother thing. He's just unnecessarily overprotective over me whenever a boy approaches me. It's like he thinks you'll knock me up if you get within a metre of me." He was silent, making me look to him in surprise. My blunt words had taken him by surprise and I smiled sheepishly, "Sorry it's the cost of being around my brothers."

He nodded, appearing to think for a moment before he said, "Your brother doesn't want boys around you. So he wouldn't be pleased to know that I'm not the only boy waiting for you?"

"Not the only one?" I questioned, watching as he gestured towards the approaching corridor.

"That Hufflepuff – the one you were infatuated with in second year, he's been waiting to ask you to Hogsmeade."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "How do you know?"

"The boy has a habit of talking aloud – often at that. What did you see in him in the first place?"

"Why can't anyone let that go?" I asked with a sigh, looking to him in confusion as he began to lead me to the library through a different route. Hadn't he told me about the Hufflepuff so I wouldn't be surprised when I passed him?

He saw my surprise, lips pulling up on one side as he asked, "Want to go the other way? So you can get your next Hogsmeade date? Personally, I thought you'd have better taste than that, Potter."

"Oh shut up," I muttered, eyeing him dirtily. "And just so you know – I have _fantastic_ taste."

"Really?" He nudged me with his shoulder, "I'll let you prove it to me sometime."

* * *

All the preparations had been set. I had everything I needed to sneak out of the common room after curfew. Well, almost everything.

I had managed to get Remus to sneak me the map with the promise that I'd look after it with my life and only after smuggling the prefect all the chocolate I had in my possession. Now I just needed to get the cloak, but how? I eyed James as he sat with his friends in the common room, arm wrapped around Lily's shoulder. Well, there was no harm in trying.

"James?" I began hesitantly, crouching beside my brother so only he would hear me. "I need a favour."

"A favour?" he repeated, growing a little concerned that I was being so nice to him. He knew it meant I wanted something. "What is it?"

"I need to borrow the cloak," I admitted. "I'll give it back to you tomorrow morning."

"Why?" he asked suspiciously, "Remus told me about the map."

"Just what are you up to, love?" Sirius asked, clearly having overhear everything.

"I need to sneak out past curfew."

James, the hypocrite, furrowed his eyebrows. "No. Why do you need to sneak out anyway?"

 _Because Regulus had owled me this morning to meet him at the astronomy tower after curfew. But if I tell you that, you'll probably shackle me to you for the rest of my life._

"It's an emergency," I said thinking quickly before whispering in his ear. "I started my period; I need to get out to Hogsmeade to buy some pads."

He recoiled in disgust, unable to look at me and I fought a smile. He'd bought it. And when he looked at me, he was unable to meet my eyes and was instead staring at my nose.

"I'll be right back."

He disappeared from the common room, heading up to his dorm and returning with the cloak bundled in his arms. Coming to my side, he handed the cloak over to me and muttered for me to be safe before returning to Lily's side. As I left the group of seventh years, I finally let myself smile. What was it about periods that had boys so entirely freaked out?

Merlin the first time I'd experienced cramps, James had even granted me unlimited access to his broom as long as I didn't mention my period again.

Once I was in my dorm again, I grabbed the map and headed out of the common room. With the cloak wrapped around me and the map held in my hands, there was little to fear and I was at the astronomy tower within minutes. Godric, maybe it was time I kept this map for myself – James and his friends were leaving the school within a few months, they hardly had any use for it anymore.

Reaching the stairs at the bottom of the astronomy tower, I shrugged off the cloak and map and placed them inside the bag I'd brought with me. Beginning to climb the stairs, I heard the sound of someone walking around at the top of the tower and slowed my steps, trying to figure out if it was Regulus.

There was a curse and I smiled; definitely Regulus then.

"Did you need me to give something to Sirius again?" I asked as I reached the top of the stairs, looking to the Slytherin who startled at the sound of my voice. He was hiding something behind his back and I frowned. "Regulus?"

He pulled his arm out from behind his back, holding out a woven picnic basket towards me. I walked towards him to take a closer look at the contents of the basket.

"What is this?" I asked curiously, peeking inside the basket. My eyes rose to meet waiting grey eyes. "You don't want me to give this to your brother, do you?"

He shook his head, swallowing slightly as he gestured towards something. I looked towards a picnic blanket that was being weighed down by some of the stray boxes of telescopes, eyebrows rising into my hairline.

"The blanket kept flying away," he explained quietly, looking towards me as I handed the basket back to him.

I nodded slightly, walking past him to point my wand at the blanket. Muttering a sticking charm, I removed the box of telescopes and looked back to Regulus. He was watching me hesitantly.

"If you wanted to do this, then there's no need for you to use your brother as an excuse," I said with a smile, settling down on the blanket. He remained where he was, standing with the picnic basket in hand and I couldn't help but tease, "You know, I didn't think you had it in you to be so romantic. A picnic under the stars. And here I was, believing you'd end up married to your books."

That was when he began to smile, coming to join me on the blanket. He settled down beside me, pulling the picnic out from the basket and I watched him for a moment. Feeling eyes on him, he glanced at me from under his eyelashes and raised an eyelash teasingly.

"What? Am I leaving you breathless or something?"

"You really _are_ Sirius' brother," I said with a roll of my eyes. "But just so you know, the next time you want to do something like this – you can just tell me the truth. I'll still come to you."

* * *

Exams. Fucking exams.

Who decided that the best way to test our knowledge – sorry, our ability to _memorise_ facts – was best tested through these ridiculous exams. The stress of the upcoming exams had hit me and badly at that. I was struggling to overcome how severely underprepared I was for some of these exams and bloody Regulus was no help. It wasn't fair to have a boyfriend that was naturally bright. He put in only a fraction of the work I did and came out with the same, if not better scores.

It just wasn't bloody fair.

These days I was spending the majority of my time in the library with Regulus by my side. The moment we had begun 'officially' dating, I told Angel and Lucy the truth and made the two girls swear to secrecy. The first few revision sessions they had had joined me and after seeing Regulus waiting with some of his friends they had begun to talk – trying to get all the gossip out of him. His friends did the same to me and after that, we both agreed that the next time we would ditch our friends and rather revise together. We certainly got more work done this way.

Struggling to recall the timeline of one of the Goblin riots, I looked through my History of Magic textbook when James decided to storm over to my table. I barely looked at him before returning to my search.

"What can I help you with, brother of mine?"

"What are you doing?" he asked, refusing to so much as glance at Regulus' direction.

"Trying to get my head around these bloody Goblin riots," I admitted.

"You can do that in the common room," he insisted, "Come with me."

"Revise in the common room?" I asked incredulously. "You _know_ how loud the common room can get and you may not want to pass your exams, but I do."

Regulus' foot brushed against my own and I watched him from the corner of my eyes, noting the smirk that played around his lips as he continued to focus on his notes. James finally looked to Regulus, eyeing him suspiciously.

"What's his deal?" James asked, gesturing towards Regulus. "Isn't your project over yet?"

I shrugged innocently, "You're friends with a Black, why can't I be friends with the other one?"

Pulling the chair out from the table, James settled himself across from me and turned to glare at Regulus as he said meaningfully, "As long as it's _just_ friendship."

"Honestly James," I said with a sigh, snapping my textbook shut with a snap. "What the hell are you talking about now?"

"I know you have a boyfriend," he insisted, leaning across the table towards me. "You just won't tell me which little twat it is."

" _If_ I had a boyfriend, you'd only try to hex them the moment you find out who they are."

"I knew it," he hissed, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, who is he then?"

"I said _if_ , James." I muttered dryly, casting a glance around the library and spotting a _very_ welcome head of red hair. Good Godric, the girl was around whenever I needed her to save me.

"By the way," I said pointing towards the direction Lily had just headed off into, "Lily's down there, in case you wanted to see her."

"Do you honestly think I'm going to fall for that again?" James demanded, "How many times have you used that little trick on me?"

"Suit yourself then," I murmured, turning back to my notes.

I looked at James from beneath from my eyelashes, watching as his curiosity got the better of him. He peeked a glance towards Lily and upon recognising her as not just any redhead, he was on his feet. Glancing threateningly towards Regulus and with a promise that he'd return to the table, James dashed off towards Lily.

"I was wondering how long he'd hang around here for," Regulus said, finally giving up his pretence of revision. He turned curiously towards me, raising an eyebrow as he asked, "So why didn't you tell him?"

"Like I said, he'd try to hex you. It's a bad habit of his but he's more of a hex first, talk later sort of person," I insisted, flicking through my notes. "And well, considering he knows more hexes then you, I don't think it's a good idea to tempt him."

"I'd have put up a fair fight," he insisted and I tried not to scoff.

"Of course you would have," I agreed, "But all those duels James used to get into in the corridor? Let's just say that an auror saw him in action and tried to recruit him for it."

"So there _is_ a reason for all this secrecy then," he wondered with a grin, clasping my hand in his and pressing a kiss to the back of it.

"We'll tell everyone," I assured him, "and soon."

"Good." He dropped my hand, turning back to his work and before I could ask what prompted the sudden change in his behaviour, James returned to the table looking thoroughly pleased with himself. His hair was sticking up more than usual and I grimaced noticing the top two buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned.

"You should be ashamed of yourself James Potter," I said, shaking my head in disappointment. "You're the head boy."

"I have no idea what you mean," he denied, reaching out to take my notes. "Here, let me test you." Flicking through my notes, he added, "There's nothing wrong with it either."

"Really?" I fought a smile, catching sight of Regulus' growing smirk. "So everyone can –"

He glared at me from over my notes. "Don't even think about it."

Merlin, he was so easy to tease. And well, for me it was one of my favourite hobbies. Besides, according to mum I'd been doing it from the moment I'd begun to speak. It was years of experience that meant I knew exactly what to say to rile him up in as few words as possible.

* * *

When the summer holiday finally rolled around, I was left with very little to distract James from my _still_ secret boyfriend. He spent as much time as he could bugging me about finding out the identity of my boyfriend. The slight respite I'd gotten was when Lily had come to visit us for a few days, along with the shiny diamond ring James had given her. Godric, I still found it hard to believe that my childish brother was soon to be married, he was going to be Lily's husband. Just how had he managed to convince her? Making a mental note to check if Lily had been given a dosage of a love potion, I eyed the two approaching boys with mild trepidation.

Sirius was another thorn in my side. The two best friends took turns, tag teaming to harass me about my love life. This was all because Regulus and I had met up in Hogsmeade during the last Hogsmeade trip only for Remus and Peter to tell them that they'd seen me in the Three Broomsticks with a dark-haired boy. The information had narrowed down the list of potentials and returning from Hogsmeade I'd been forcefully kept in the common room whilst they tried to extract more information from me.

"Godric's ghost," I swore before either of them could say a word. They shared a look. "The pair of you are planning on moving out soon, so _please_ tell me why you're spending your last few days at home bugging me like this? Can you not lay off?"

"No," James said, not even bothering to consider my words. Sirius shook his head, smiling widely when I rubbed my eyes tiredly.

"Merlin Sirius, why are you harassing me too," I moaned. "And to think, you were my favourite."

"I'm curious," he explained as he began to smirk, his words taking on a more mischievous note. "I can't help but want to know which little twerp snatched you up before I could."

I stifled a laugh, watching the way James turned to Sirius with a sharp cry of "Padfoot!"

Just as James began to berate Sirius for his words, reminding him that we were _family_ and he wasn't allowed to think that way, Sirius winked at me from the corner of his eye. I watched as he gestured for me to leave the room, the motion hidden from James' sight and I grinned. I knew there was a reason he was my favourite.

I took refuge in the kitchen, searching for a snack. But it seemed that despite his most valiant efforts, Sirius wasn't able to keep James distracted for long as he trailed after me. He followed me around the kitchen as I began to make myself a sandwich.

"Don't say another word James," I warned, glancing at him from over my shoulder and rolling my eyes at him. He held his hands up in surrender. "Shouldn't you be finding a job or something?"

"Why bother?" he asked, stealing my sandwich and smiling innocently at me after he ate half of it with a single bite. I scrunched my nose in disgust; why did he always eat like a pig? "We have money."

"You're so bloody lazy," I muttered with a shake of my head as I made myself a sandwich. Again.

"We have enough money for me to live on it without making a dent in it," he reminded me.

"Because of dad," I said, slapping his hand away when he went to steal my sandwich again. "You're going to be bored out of your skull."

"When that time comes, I'll look for work then," he shrugged easily, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter. "How did we even get onto this topic?"

"Because you're easy for me to manipulate," I admitted truthfully, watching as mum walked into the kitchen.

Before James could reach out to flick me on the forehead like I knew he wanted to, I ducked around mum and hiding behind her back. James frowned at me before realising I'd left my sandwich unprotected and snagging it up. He ate it in four bites. Pig.

"Are you pregnant, James?" I wondered, hugging mum as she laughed at my words. "You've turned into such a pig."

James didn't rise to the bait. "Do you want to be an aunt so badly? Give me a year or two and you'll have a nephew."

Mum laughed, reaching out to ruffle his hair as Sirius walked into the room, curious what we were talking about. "That can't happen quickly enough sweetheart; we're not getting any younger."

"Mum," I protested, watching James and Sirius frown at her words.

"It's only the truth," she said, patting Sirius' cheek and removing the frown from his face. "It's only natural to want to see my grandkids as soon as possible."

"Well don't look to me for them," Sirius said, "I'm _very_ skilled at the contraceptive charm."

"Don't expect any from me either," I interjected, still hugging her from behind and pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I'm _far_ too young."

"You haven't even told us who your boyfriend is," mum reminded me, turning towards me and pulling my cheek slightly. "Maybe that way I'll know who he is."

"Not you too," I whined, hearing Sirius snicker.

"Invite him to dinner tomorrow," she ordered firmly, "and James invite Lily. Sirius – invite someone, if you have someone."

"I'll think about it," he promised emptily.

Well, it looked like I needed to head off to owl Regulus. James and Sirius had no reason to be looking so pleased about inevitably finding out the identity of my boyfriend. Only Merlin knew if they'd be so pleased when they really found out who it was.

* * *

"I hear we're to be joined by your boyfriend."

I had been sat in the front room, curled up with my book and simply minding my own business when my dad approached me, easing himself into the seat beside me. Closing my book quietly, I turned to give my full attention to my father who smiled a little wearily at me. From over his shoulder I saw James and Sirius acting as though they weren't listening to our conversation and were instead _very_ diligently setting the table for dinner. Never mind the fact that it was too early to do so.

"In this old age," he said with a slight chuckle, pushing his glasses up my nose, "I thought I'd know how to react around your boyfriend, but here I am – still feeling threatened by the arrival of this young man."

"Stop talking about yourself as if you're an old man," I chastised, crossing the space between us to hold him close to me. "You're barely in your 70s, in terms of wizards – dad you're still in your teens."

He chuckled patting my back gently. "You always know what to say, princess."

I pulled back from him slightly, "And as for feeling threatened; there's no need." Pressing a kiss to his cheek, I assured him. "You're still the most important person in my life. Regardless of what James and his big head think."

"I'm glad." Dad kissed the top of my head, tucking some of my hair behind my ear. "Now, this young gentleman of yours; how is he getting here? Is he old enough to apparate?" I shook my head, watching as he thought deeply, "So he's not 17 yet. How is he getting here then?"

"He said he'd floo over," I answered hesitantly.

Dad nodded, gaining enlightenment. "If our houses are connected by floo then we're of acquaintance with his family."

"Godric," I pouted, pushing away from dad. "I should have known you'd be in cahoots with James and Sirius."

"Now, now princess," he tried to placate, "I'm just trying to find out who he is."

"You'll find out when he arrives." Turning back to my book, I picked up from where I had left off.

Before he could ask another question, mum called out to him from upstairs. "I'd better go and check on your mother."

I nodded, watching as he rose to his feet and left the room. The moment he stepped out of the room, I found myself sandwiched by my brothers who were reeling with the new information. They spoke between themselves, listing off potential candidates and bringing up names to see how I reacted to them. But I schooled my features into the perfect picture of indifference.

That was until I heard the floo activate. The sound had me rising to my feet, intending to run towards the fireplace. I found myself with two shadows who were adamant on following me. I stopped in my steps, turning back to face them.

"Don't follow me," I warned, pointing between James and Sirius. They shared a look and scoffed, planning to push past me. "I mean it. James stay put or I'll tell Lily you wet the bed until you were 15 and Sirius, I'll spread that you've contracted an incurable STD."

"But none of those things are true!" they called out after me.

"No one needs to know that," I threw over my shoulder, pleased when I realised they were staying put.

Turning away from them, I hurried towards the fireplace where Regulus was standing, peering around the room with mild interest. My steps slowed as I entered the room and I wondered whether he was good at hiding his nerves because he didn't seem nervous at all. Instead, he looked perfectly calm, whilst _I_ was the one that was nervous in my own home.

"Aren't you nervous?" I asked the moment he clocked me. He reached out towards me, linking our fingers together and bringing my hand to his lips.

"What good would it do for the two of us to be outwardly nervous?" he asked, releasing my hand. After dating a Slytherin for a while you learnt the subtle art of deciphering the true meaning to their words. He meant to say that he _was_ nervous but like hell was he going to let anyone see that.

"Ready to go?" I asked quietly and he nodded, despite the brief flash of hesitation that entered his eyes.

Together we turned, planning on heading further in only to stop in our steps. My parents were stood in the doorway, looking between the pair of us with raised eyebrows. I bit my bottom lip, watching as Regulus strode forward to greet my parents who showed no outward reaction to who he was. Godric, how was I supposed to know how they felt about me dating Regulus if they were so good at keeping a poker face.

My worries only grew more and, by the time I realised that I was worrying too much, Regulus was already being led out of the room by my father. I was left alone with mum and when I hesitantly raised my eyes to her face, I let out a breath I didn't realise I'd been holding.

She was smiling and with raised eyebrows, she hummed, "He's handsome."

"That he is," I agreed, taking her arm as we followed after dad and Regulus into the dining room.

All chatter died down the moment the four of us entered the room. James and Sirius wore identical looks of surprise, taking some time to understand the situation. Lily, Remus and Peter who must have arrived when I was busy with Regulus eyed the two men like they were ticking time bombs. My parents walked into the room, ready to play peacekeepers in case things got too bad.

Sirius was the first to recover from his shock and he snorted into his drink before rising from his seat. Regulus watched his older brother apprehensively, reaching out to take my hand for stability. I held it tight between both of mine as we watched Sirius stalk towards Regulus only to clap him on the back as if the two of them hadn't been estranged for years. Regulus relaxed at the gesture and the pair of them smiled freely at one another. Unknowingly I smiled too, watching as the brothers spoke for the first time in years.

A single sound was all it took for my smile to disappear. There was the sound of a chair scraping against the floor and I turned towards the sound to find James standing, eyes narrowed at Regulus. He paid no heed to the steadying arm Lily reached out to place on his arm.

"Black," he seethed visibly, making dad watch him closely as he looked for the sign that intervention was needed. "I gave you so many free passes because you claimed the two of you were _friends,_ because you're Padfoot's brother. I didn't think the two of you would ever –"

He broke off, spluttering as he struggled for words.

Regulus didn't help matters when he simply grinned and kissed my cheek, knowing what it would do to James. "It must be the Black charm."


	2. Epilogue: 1 Year Later

_1 YEAR LATER_

It had all happened so quickly. Within the space of months dad's condition had deteriorated until he was no more. I was still reeling from the loss of _the_ most important person in my life when we lost mum shortly after. It was a small mercy that I had been home for the holiday when it finally happened and had been able to spend their final moments with them. A joint funeral was promptly arranged and the number of wizards and witches that turned up was astounding. They were loved by many and they could have been around for _so_ much longer.

Godric, Lily was pregnant! The grandchild that they wanted so desperately to hold was almost here and they'd been snatched away too quickly.

I hadn't shed a single tear, far too broken to even give myself the time to grieve. Aged 17 and I was an orphan. James had taken responsibility for me instantly, moving back home with Lily to look after me and our reactions had been two opposites. I had gone cold, going into myself and showing next to no emotion. He had flown off the other end of the scale; destroying everything in sight and screaming out in anger, in the pain of loss. Unsurprisingly it was the Black brothers that held us together.

It was Sirius who floo'd over the next morning and righted the entire house, fixing everything James had broken and it was Regulus who sat by my side ensuring that I did something other than lying in bed all day.

Even now, as we sat at the funeral parlour, we were _constantly_ welcoming guests who had come to offer their condolences. There were those that expressed genuine concern and others who wondered, rather unhelpfully, how we'd cope on our own and how James had been burdened, as a young father and now as a young guardian by the state.

Every time someone spoke like that, the words began to sound truer. He _was_ a young father, a young husband, and now he had to shoulder my burden too. But when those thoughts got too dark, he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pressed a kiss to my temple, assuring me that I wasn't a burden and never would be. My throat clogged each time as I turned into him, burrowing my face into his chest as I expected tears to fall but they didn't. They just wouldn't fall.

When I pulled away from James I found him staring at someone from over my shoulder, gesturing them over. I followed his eyes and watching as Regulus pushed through the crowd, his parents following far behind him. Merlin, what did they want?

I knew they didn't approve of me. They never had. They'd made that clear enough times and had tried countless plots to get rid of me. It had all begun the moment I found out about his father trying to engrain him with the Dark Lord's doctrine and I'd promptly taken Regulus to Dumbledore. His parents had no idea that he was acting as a spy and simply knew me as the reason Regulus put off getting his mark.

The moment he reached my side, James pushed me gently into his waiting arms. "I'll deal with Mr and Mrs Black."

Regulus took my hand, helping me through the crowd and out of the room, passing Lily as she sat with red rimmed eyes besides Alice and Sirius who stood hovering beside them, a lit cigarette in his mouth. I frowned; he was grief smoking again. We stood in the empty hallway and I breathed easier, taking large breaths. When I looked back to him, I was unsurprised to find his eyes heavy on mine. He reached out to take me in his arms, holding me against his chest.

"Cry it out," he said gently, "You haven't cried a single tear since your father passed, so cry it out. You can't keep bottling it in princess."

Princess. That single word did it.

Just like that the floodgates were open and I burrowed my head in Regulus' shoulder as I attempted to stifle my deep, yearning sobs. He told me not to bother, to let it all out and listened carefully as I wailed and _wailed_ about how unfair it was to lose them both, how there'd been no warning. If I had known it would have been the last time, I would have, I would have –

"I'm sorry," I apologised, pulling back from him and staring up into his face when he reached out to brush my tears away with his thumbs.

"Whatever for?"

"For ruining your shirt," I sniffled, accepting the handkerchief he held out to me.

"Don't be ridiculous." Hesitating for a moment, he asked gently, "Do you not want me to call you princess anymore? I know your father used to –"

"It's ok," I assured, taking a deep breath. "I like hearing you say it."

And I did. My father had been the only man to treat me like a princess. The only man until Regulus appeared in my life and before his passing father had drowsily called Regulus a knight. A knight that had arrived to break the princess out of her tower.

Now that one pillar of strength was gone from my life, I needed another.

Wrapping my arms around Regulus again, I held him close to me and took a deep breath. He held me close, patting my back gently.

"I'll look after you now," he promised. "I'll take responsibility for you."

I sniffled, pulling back enough to gaze into his eyes. "That sounds an awful lot like a proposal and you wouldn't do that at my parent's funeral."

"It's not a proposal," he agreed, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "It's a promise that I'm going to look after you until the time comes when you'll accept my proposal."

"Regulus?" I asked quietly and he hummed. "Thank you; for being there."

"Don't be so Gryffindor," he chastised gently. "Don't thank me for something so simple."

"Well it means the world to me."

"And you've _become_ my world."


End file.
